Paris 2024: Ezekiel Nathaniel storms to hurdles semifinals as Okezie and Onojuvwevwo fail to deliver in the 400m

However, he was the only athlete who made it to the next round with Chidi Okezie and Ella Onojuvwevwo failing to qualify.

In the second heat round, Okezie came fifth, falling short of qualifying for the semi-finals and joining Ezekiel.

Onojuvwevwo on the other hand did not do enough to make it to the next round as she came sixth in the third heat round.

From breaking his own National Record (NR) to earning a bronze medal at the NCAA Championships, Nathaniel has been in top form.

The Nigerian had a strong race from lane 3 to finish in second place in 48.38 seconds, his fourth-fastest time ever.

Wilfried Happio finished last automatically in 48.42 seconds, while Jamaica's Roshawn Clarke won the race in 48.17 seconds.

Meanwhile, the other athletes involved in the race failed to make the next round as Okezie ran a time of 45.92 seconds.

Onojuvwevwo also disappointed in the women’s 400m hurdles coming sixth with a time of 51.64 seconds way behind the winner Anning who ran 49.68 seconds.

Nathaniel is the first Nigerian athlete to qualify for the Olympic 400-meter hurdles semifinals in twelve years.

Amaechi Morton was the last Nigerian athlete to advance to the event's semifinals in London in 2012.

Ezekiel will be hoping to replicate his performance in the heat round when he runs in the semifinal in other to qualify for the final.

In other events, Favour Ofili also made Nigerians proud as he qualified for the 200m semifinal and she has claimed that she is confident that she can beat anybody to the finish line.